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WHO: Sara Lance
WHERE: South Village Fountain
WHEN: January 2
OPEN TO: All/anyone who wants to greet an annoyed Sara
WARNINGS: None, will update if anything changes

Unfortunately, she was no stranger to finding herself underwater and having to swim for it. At least whatever was going on this time was a little more pleasant. No underwater currents, no storms, no ship wreckage falling through the water. She could have sworn she'd even felt a little bit of a push upward. She had no idea where that came from, but that was a problem for at-the-surface-Sara. Or maybe not one she'd come back to at all.

Sara broke the surface with a gasp. She'd hadn't maxed out her breath, but Sara was more than relieved to feel oxygen fill her lungs even if she'd only been underwater for seconds. Traumatic history, assume the worst, etc. What she never would have assumed or expected to find herself in, a fountain had not been on that list. At least it was just a fountain. She hoped. No more dips in magical waters for her.

As quickly as she could, she swam to the edge, pulled herself out and dropped right to the ground, not even attempting to be graceful as her but hit the ground.

The surroundings were unfamiliar. She had no idea where she was, or how she got here. As far as Sara could remember, she hadn't done anything to mess up on the Waverider and end up time scattered. But it had happened before, and it could happen again.

Black scrubs, a backpack, and some weird smart watch she definitely did not own. A quick tug and examination told her that it was not coming off easily. A tracker, maybe? All of this was puncturing a hole in her time scattering theory and really making her wish she'd stayed in bed with Ava today. "Gideon, what happened?" She expected to hear the ships AI in her ear whenever she called for her, which was usual as long as the connection wasn't damage. A swim in the fountain shouldn't damage it. But Sara already knew she was going to find the earpiece missing when she reached for it. "Son of a" Sara made an annoyed noise in her throat, and then stood up slowly, remaining cautious.

No ship (that she could see), no contact, probably no crew. Not even her usual outfits and weapons. What the hell was happening to her now? "I am not in the mood." she stated out loud, in case the people responsible were listening. If she found them, whoever 'them' was, there was going to be hell to pay. It might have sounded more convincing if she wasn't already shivering from the cold.

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The advantage to having both a box and a backpack to your name, and every few worldly possessions, was that Reeve could easily make his way across town with everything he owned in a single trip. His path led him through the fountain park as a means to cross town in less steps, which means he was approaching as the young woman he had not noticed started to shout.

Good news, he didn't stumble or drop anything. But it really was a near thing.

"Which mood would that be?" he asked as he approached, carefully shifting the balance of his box full of papers and drafting materials. "Because shouting seems to be your current mood."

"I wouldn't call it shouting." she was just as careful as he approached, "Is shouting even a mood?" Sara didn't shout or yell very often. If she did, it was never a good sign. "I'm planting myself firmly in the category of annoyed. Really annoyed." Also, cold. But that wasn't a mood either.

She turned slightly, looking around her surroundings to see if anyone else was approaching, but always kept him in her peripheral vision.

"Maybe it's just me, but I think annoyed is pretty justified considering I just woke up underwater in a randomly deep fountain." Sara turned to look back at him. "What is this place?"

"The South Village. Specifically you're in the fountain park, a bit south of the inn. You're new then..."

He wanted to take his things to his new home that he had picked out that morning but... well, needs must outweigh wants.

"If you would be so kind as to come with me? The inn has a nice fireplace, some towels, and places where you can change into dry clothes. It may be a more comfortable place to make yourself acquainted with your new home."

"Yeah, you know that doesn't exactly tell me much of anything, right?" America? Was this America? It had to be someone recently because of the watch, but she wasn't exactly getting modern vibes from her surroundings either.

Sara quirked an eyebrow, but didn't move to follow him right away. A fireplace and dry clothes sounded great. But she could also be walking directly into more trouble. She wasn't armed, but it wasn't crazy to want more information before following a stranger. Even if she wasn't helpless. "Tempting, but also kind of sketchy. Who are you?"

Lets not even get started on the whole new home bit. She'd unpack and deal with that once she had a better idea of her situation.

"My name is Reeve Tuesti," he offered, pausing to turn and bow to her but without putting down his box. "I'm from the world of Gaia, and was brought here, much like you, against my will. People arrive here, often by means of that very fountain, and no one knows how to deliberately leave this place. All I can say is... I may get this wrong I heard the phrase from a young friend of mine. 'You're not in Kansas anymore.' Whatever Kansas is."

Please, it is cold outside and he has no gloves. Might they perhaps move inside just enough to let him warm his hands by the fire while he explains? Surely that much is by no means too much to ask.

Against my will. So she was kidnapped. Yes, that was obvious. But this was one of the most unique ideas of a holding cell or prison she'd ever encountered. It might have been a prison, but she was in a spacious one. The scrubs might as well be an orange jumpsuit.

"It's a State. Part of the United States of a America." If he was from another world, like he said, he might not know what the USA was. But maybe he did. She hadn't held down a lot of conversations with...was he an alien?

She didn't like it, but she resigned herself to follow him. Maybe she'd end up in a fight, or maybe she'd get the feelings back in her hands. Either option was better than standing here and freezing. "You said you were brought here against your will, and other people arrive through that fountain. How many people?"

"Ah, Steph's told me about that place. It has an Internet," Reeve said thoughtfully. If there was a connection to Steph's version, that meant this young woman was connected to 'Earth'.

Interesting how many more Earthers they had than, say, Thedasians or the like. Reeve himself was the only one here from his world of Gaia, but he made do. At least this woman would have people who understood her to some degree.

"I have not read the latest census. More than fifty, less than a hundred I think. I cannot be sure. Sometimes people arrive. Sometimes people disappear," he continued as he led her to the nearby inn. It took little time at all to climb the stairs and then he was faced with the awkwardness of juggling his box to try and get the door open again.

Whoever Steph was, Sara didn't bother make any correction about the internet. "It does. Does that mean this place doesn't?" It had to have something, if these watches were going to monitor them. Assuming that was what they were for.

Too many, either way. How had no one noticed this happening yet? The Time Bureau, Gideon, anyone? But she as missing now, so her team would look for it. "What happens when you try to escape? Just walk away?"

Sara stepped forward to open the door for him, since her hands were free. Plus he would walk in first and she wouldn't have him at her back. "With that many people missing you'd think others would come looking. There hasn't been a rescue attempt yet?"

"This place has a network, sort of like an online communication service. Both real time and asynchronous. Text, video, audio."

Escape? The very idea earns a sad laugh from Reeve as he heads through the door. It is a nice question, what if they went and just walked away? But from all he has heard and read that is not possible. More than that, no one is coming for them.

"There are people who have been here for years, so don't bet on a rescue attempt. What is more, our resident astrophysicist has found that no one recognizes a single star in the sky, or anything. We aren't where we were, and our goal is to make with that what we can."

He moves toward a table near the fires and puts his box down. "It is warm here. Let me go and get a towel or two. Then you can head up to one of the empty rooms to change."

"And how do you access that? Is that what this thing is for?" She held up her left wrist with the thing that looked like a fit-bit. None of his answers were making her feel any better, and she was not about to just believe him on his word either. There had to be some way to deal with this mess. There was always a way. It might not lead to the best results, but it was better than nothing.

So they had to be far from Earth. The Waverider was also a spaceship, but she doubted the crew would think to scan so far out for it. Shit. "You're saying everyone here has just accepted being a prisoner and is trying to build some sort of community around it?"

That was insane.

Sara nodded when he said he was going to go get towels, and watched him go before turning to look at the fires, moving just a little closer to the warmth. She'd escaped from plenty of crap situations before, but this was taking it to a whole new level.

"That is indeed what the device is for," Reeve agreed. "From my understanding most people find it highly intuitive to use, even though the format is not always consistent.

Sometimes one had to accept that there aren't nearly as many answers as you want. Reeve had been forced to face that in his life and had learned to be... slightly more accepting of situations beyond his power. Sometimes it was the end of the world and you had to let someone else save the day.

But to say they accepted being prisoners? Hardly.

"The community is forced people, though some of us have adapted to it. I've been here less than a month and feel I am settling in. There is nothing I can do at this time about being a prisoner. So instead I work with others to make our survival easier. Like building a barn."

With that he went off and headed upstairs. Gathered a few towels from the supply closet and came back down to offer them over to her.

"Here. Room twelve, at the end of the hall upstairs, is clearly marked. You would be able to change in there. No one uses the room. I know because I was just in the process of moving out."

Highly intuitive probably just meant it was really good at recording everywhere you were and what you did. There had to be some people who had tried to take it off. Maybe she could track them down and see what hadn't worked.

She got what he was saying. Sort of. But it was far too early in the game to just accept that she was just stuck here. But needing to support a community, she got that too. "This whole town is kidnapped people then? Most things you have, besides this backpack, you guys made?" What kind of experiment was this?

Sara was going to assume that she got this room for free unless there was cash in the backpack. By the sounds of it, there were also other places for her to stay too since she was being directed toward his recently vacated room. She held those thoughts in her head and the took the towels with a nod. Sara could worry more about this in a few minutes when she was dry.

Following Reeve's instructions, she headed down the hall until she came to room 12. Sara didn't care much to examine the place for too long. Again that would be later. Instead, she got out of her wet clothes as fast as she could. Upon opening the backpack, she found some basic but dry clothes to change the wet ones out for.

It was less than ten minutes later and Sara was leaving the room again, her backpack still there. If this really was a community, her bag should be safe. She couldn't imagine anyone would want to take it anyway. "Thanks." she said to Reeve as he came back into view. "I'm Sara, by the way. Thanks for taking me to this place. You said you found somewhere else to live?"

"Some of what we have we find. Other things come to us. I woke up one morning to a cardboard box filled with paper, pencils, and other drafting material," Reeve admitted. So it's sort of hard to say how everything got here. He's not been around for more than a month. His knowledge is mostly what he has picked up from others or the records.

But with her heading off he goes silent and settles down by the fire. He can wait here for a little bit before grabbing his box and heading to his house. Doesn't have to wait, but he will. It is courtesy.

When she comes back down he smiles at her over his shoulder. "Reeve. It is a pleasure to meet you. And yes, I found a house this morning I'll be moving into. There are a decent number of houses that are either not full or empty entirely. Well, of people."

So their captors gave them random gifts, probably to try and keep them happy and calmer rather than making them irritated and rebellious. "Are you some kind of designer? Architect?" The first thing she would want as a gift was her weapons back. She was more than a little irritated that they were all gone. Sara was almost always carrying something.

She moves toward the fire once again, hovering by it but not taking a seat. "Good to know, I'll check those out tomorrow." It didn't look like there was a lot of light in this place. Better to see a place she could claim in the light. "How does this place work for food? Does everyone hunt for their own? " she could do that if that was how it was going to go, but she wanted to know how the basics worked in this town before she got started. She also didn't want to do anything to piss people off.

"Architect indeed. And city planner. Among other things, and it's all rather complicated in my history, but for now, for here... I'm an architect."

He looks to the fire, rewarming himself before he heads back out.

"The inn rooms, and kitchen, have electricity. Not all houses do. So that is an advantage here. There are those who make food here for communal meals here at the inn. Otherwise you cook yourself. There is a butcher, who will process meat those who hunt brings there. There's a greenhouse and I hear rumors that there is process toward a farm down south. And if you're any good with fishing, there's something like that too."

There are plenty of chances here. It's about findin yourself. Or so he thought.

"Probably handy in a place like this." Was that part of it? Choosing people with specific skill sets?

Simple. Very simple. Kind of like their times in the wild west. If electricity can be at the inn, it could eventually go to the houses, right? "Simple enough." She'd need to make weapons for hunting though. Also doable. She just needed to get herself situated so she could both survive, and look for a way out of this place.

"I appreciate you bringing me here. It's a hell of a lot better than freezing my ass off out there for longer than needed." she didn't want to keep him if he had places to be. She had her own plans to make as well. Though she needed to sort out her thoughts, which were a mess right now. "

"Just handy enough," Reeve shrugged. Fact of the matter is that he did not know for certain that he would be useful for long. Two or three projects out of the way and then what would he do? There was no guarantee there would be tasks for him. He wasn't as useful as a farmer or a smith or anything like that.

"It was my pleasure to help," Reeve answered as he stood. "The fact is that lately I seem to find myself all but tripping over new people. As I was provided with assistance upon my arrival it's only proper to offer such back as well."

The statement kind of made her stomach turn. With more and more people arriving you would think someone would notice. Someone would come to find them, or someone would be able to find a way out. Almost nothing was impossible, she had come to discover. That couldn't change now.

"Not everyone would think that way." she said with a shrug. "Hopefully I didn't distract you from something too important."

"Just moving to my new house. And given how close we are to the fountain, it's not an issue at all," Reeve smiled. "Soon there should be people coming by to make lunch. Be sure you get a bowl of stew. Eating right is important."

He moves to reclaim his box. "Would you be so kind as to open the door for me again?"

A bowl of stew. She was really going to miss Gideon, the Waverider and being able to have whatever she wanted. She new it was important, but Stew was never really on her list of things to go for.

"Sure." she went to the door to hold it open, taking a deep breath as the outside air hit her again. It was more soothing when you weren't drenched in fountain water. "Enjoy your new house. Hopefully no other new arrivals end up stopping you this time."

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